Supernatural - 419 Jumping the Shark
by Dozo14
Summary: Alternate version of the Supernatural episode 4.19 "Jump the Shark" with a few additions, changes and a completely rewritten ending. When Sam and Dean receive a call for help from a kid claiming to be John Winchester's son, they set out to investigate. How will they handle the situation?
1. Chapter 1

Supernatural – 4.19 Jump the Shark

Part 1

Xxx

Late at night, a scream sounded through an empty hallway. On a small side table, there were a couple of picture frames, most of them featuring pictures of a mother and son. The forty-something mother had dark blonde hair and dark eyes, while the boy had dark blonde hair and green eyes. Suddenly, the woman from the pictures ran past the table and one of the pictures shattered on the floor, showing her son at the age twelve in the eagle scouts.

"Go away!" The woman screamed as she looked over her shoulder in terror.

The woman screamed as she ran into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Something started bashing on the door while she pressed against it, until it suddenly stopped. Dressed in a grey coat over some blue hospital scrubs, the woman quickly pushed her dresser in front of the door to block it. She took a deep breath and sat down on the bed. The thing outside seemed to have gone away as things grow quiet.

"Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, god. It's okay. It's okay." The woman whispered to herself as she frantically searched for her phone.

Suddenly something grabbed her by the ankles and she was pulled to the floor. Her phone fell and slit across the floor, out of reach. The woman screamed as something dragged her under the bed. She tried to grab the nightstand, knocking it over. As the woman disappeared under the bed, a picture fell on the floor, showing the face of John Winchester.

Xxx

In the middle of nowhere early in the morning, right next to a small and peaceful lake, Sam Winchester stood against the hood on the Impala and was brushing his teeth after a crappy night sleep in the car. Meanwhile, Dean was still snoring across the front seat. Suddenly Dean moved in his sleep and accidentally opened the door, causing him to almost fall out of the car. Sam smiled as he spit on the ground and took a sip of water. Dean crawled up and got out of the car.

"How'd you sleep?" Sam asked.

"How do you think?" Dean remarked as he stretched. "I'm starving, let's go get breakfast."

"Where? We're like two hours from anything." Sam asked.

"But I'm hungry now!" Dean called out a little whiny.

"There is probably still a sandwich in the front of the car." Sam replied.

Dean sat down in the car and started rifling through the mess. At the same time, Sam finished brushing and but away his toothbrush after cleaning it with water. Eventually Dean found a small brown bag and sniffed at it, making a foul face.

"It's tuna." Dean said disgusted.

Suddenly a phone started ringing and both brothers exchanged confused looks, knowing it was not one their own phones. Dean reached into the car and grabbed a phone from the glove department.

"Isn't that dad's phone?" Sam asked surprised. "Nobody has called that number in months."

Dean shrugged as he pushed a button and brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello?" A young male voice sounded. "Uh, is this John?"

"He can't come to the phone right now." Dean said, which was technically the truth. "Can I help you?"

"No, no, I really need to talk to John." The young man said. "He knows me, can you tell him it's Adam Milligan?"

Dean hesitated from a moment. "Well, sorry to be the one to break this to you, pal, but John died more than two years ago." He said in a stoic tone. There was no real response, but Dean heard a shocked gasp. "Who is this?"

"I am his son." The young man replied.

Dean fell silent as he stared into the distance. He could not believe the words he had just heard. It had to be a trick. I was impossible. Either way, he needed to find out the truth.

Xxx

A few hours later, the Impala drove up to a parking lot in front of a small diner called "Cousin Oliver's" in Windom, Minnesota. Dean got out of the car in an annoyed mood, while Sam stepped out holding a piece of paper containing research.

"Dean, look, best I can tell, Adam Milligan is real." Sam told his brother as he looked on the paper. "Um, born September twenty-ninth, 1990 to Kate Milligan. No father listed on the birth certificate. He used to be an Eagle Scout."

However, Dean did not appear to be listening, as he popped open the trunk and the weapons box. He started pulling out various weapons

"Graduated from high school with honors and currently goes to the University of Wisconsin—biology major, pre-med." Sam continued. "Dean? You listening?"

"This is a trap." Dean simple replied as he closed the trunk of the Impala.

As Dean headed to the diner, Sam sighed and crumbled the piece of paper, sticking it in his pocket before he followed his brother. A bell ringed as they entered the diner and looked around, there were only a few other people. An attractive waitress with dark hair walked past them and smiled as she brought a burger to another customer. Dean spotted an empty booth in the corner and walked over there. He removed one of the four chairs and sat down while Sam sat down next to him, making sure that this Adam would have to sit across from them. Sam pulled their father's journal from his jacket and dropped it on the table.

"Dean, I'm telling you, the kid checks out." Sam whispered.

"Great, so he's an actual person on the planet Earth. Sucks he's got a demon in him." Dean replied casually.

The waitress from before, wearing the name tag Denise, came up to the table with menus and glasses of water. She handed both of them a glass.

"Welcome to Cousin Oliver's." Denise said with a smile.

"Thanks." Sam replied friendly.

"Can I get you...?" Denise started, before being rudely interrupted by Dean.

"We're actually waiting for someone." Dean snapped at her.

Denise pulled an annoyed face and slammed the menus on the table before walking away. Sam frowned and grabbed one of the menus, while Dean emptied his glass of water in a potted plant behind them.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked as Dean grabbed a flask and unscrewed the top. "Holy Water?"

"Yup." Dean replied as he put the filled glass on the table. "One sip of Jesus juice, this evil bitch is going to be in a world of hurt."

As the waitress walked by, Dean placed the glass on the other side of the table by the empty chair and pulled out a package from his jacket.

"And what if he's not possessed?" Sam asked.

"Then he is a shapeshifter." Dean replied as he unwrapped the package and revealed silver cutlery, which he used to replace the silverware already on the table.

"Hence the silver." Sam concluded.

"Look, either way, this thing is gonna bleed. I mean, using Dad as bait? That's the last mistake of its short, pitiful life." Dean replied angrily.

"I don't know Dean." Sam replied as he looked at the journal.

"What?" Dean asked annoyed. "What?!"

"Okay, Dean listen." Sam said reluctantly. "There is an entry in dad's journal. Listen to this." He added as he flipped through the journal and started reading. "From January of 1990, saying he's headed to Minnesota to check out a case. That's, roughly, oh, about nine months before the kid was born."

"Coincidence." Dean remarked simply.

"Coincidence?" Sam repeated as she showed his brother the journal. "The next two pages of the journal are torn out."

"Wait, you're not actually buying this, are you?" Dean asked with a frown.

Sam hesitated. "Look, man, I don't want to believe it either, I'm just saying it's possible." He said as he closed the journal and put it away. "I mean, Dad would be gone for weeks at a time, and he wasn't exactly a monk. I mean, a hunter rolls into town, kills a monster, saves the girl...sometimes the girl's grateful."

"Well, now I'm thinking about Dad sex. Stop talking." Dean said with a disgusted face.

"Maybe he slipped one past the goalie." Sam remarked.

"Dude!" Dean called out annoyed.

Both brothers looked up when the door chimed. They saw a young man walking in. He was tall and slender, about nineteen years old and with dark blonde hair and green eyes. He seemed strangely familiar and Sam found it difficult to deny the resemblance this boy had to them, especially to Dean. However, Dean refused to even accept the possibility. The boy looked around and Sam waved at him.

"Adam?" Sam asked as the boy walked over.

"Are you Sam?" the boy asked.

"Yeah. Uh, this is Dean." Sam said as he pointed at his brother.

"Hey." Adam said as he put his backpack on the floor and sat down on the chair across them. "So, um...how did you know my dad?"

"Uh, we worked together." Sam lied. It felt strange to hear the boy refer to his father as dad.

"How did he die?" Adam asked confused.

"On the job" Sam replied.

"He was a mechanic, right?" Adam asked doubtfully.

"A car fell on him." Dean remarked dryly.

Adam frowned. At the same moment, the waitress Denise came up to the table again and placed a glass of water in front of Adam.

"Hi, Adam." Denise said friendly. "How are you?"

'Oh, I'll take that. I am very thirsty." Dean quickly said as he grabbed the new glass of water from Adam, causing Denise to give him a dirty look.

"The usual, Adam?" Denise asked.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks, Denise." Adam said.

As Denise left, Adam looked at Dean and grabbed the other glass filled with the Holy Water. Dean and Sam waited as he took a sip, but nothing happened. Adam put the glass down and wiped his mouth with his jacket sleeve. He looked uncomfortable and concerned.

"So, uh, when's the last time you saw John?" Sam asked.

"I don't even know. It's...a couple years." Adam replied.

"Why did you decide to call him now?" Sam asked as he noticed Dean grabbing a gun and aiming at Adam underneath the table.

'I didn't know who else to call. He's the only family I got." Adam replied as he stared out the window. "My mom's missing."

"Really? I'm sorry." Sam said. "Uh, for how long?"

However, before Adam could reply, Dean interrupted him. "It's tragic, really. But if you're John's kid, how come we've never heard of you?"

"Because John and me didn't really know each other." Adam replied after a moment. "Not until a few years ago, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"My mom never talked about him. I knew some stuff." Adam replied vaguely.

"What kind of stuff?" Dean asked.

"My mom's a nurse, and Dad came into the ER, pretty torn up." Adam explained. "Hunting accident or something. And I knew his name. John Winchester. That's about it. We're not exactly a nuclear family."

"Yeah, well, who is these days?" Sam remarked uncomfortably.

"So, when did you, uh, when did you finally meet him?" Dean asked.

"When I was twelve. My mom had one of his old numbers." Adam told him while Dean tightened his grip on the gun. "After I begged her—God, twenty-four-seven—she finally called him. When John heard he had a son, he raced to town. I mean, he dropped everything. He drove all night."

Denise came walking up to the table and placed a plate in front of Adam and Dean let his hand relax a little. Sam did some math his head and realized that his father would have met Adam right after he had left for Stanford.

"There you go." Denise said.

"Thanks." Adam replied and smiled at Denise as she walked away.

"Well, that's heartwarming." Dean remarked.

"Do you mind?" Adam asked as he pointed at his food.

"Please, dig in." Dean replied.

Dean watched closely as Adam grabbed a napkin without touching the silverware. As he placed it on his lap, Dean's grip on the gun tightened again and he cocked it.

"He would swing by once a year or so." Adam continued telling them as he picked up the silverware. "You know, he called when he could. But still..." Adam continued as he cut his food and took a bite, after which Dean lowered the gun almost disappointed. "He taught me poker and pool and even bought me my first beer when I was fifteen. And, uh… he showed me how to drive. Dad, he had this beautiful 'sixty-seven Impala..."

"Oh this is crap." Dean called out annoyed after hearing this kid had driven in his Impala. "You know what, you're lying."

"No, I'm not." Adam replied confused.

"Uh, yeah, you are." Dean said angrily.

"I'm sorry, but who the hell are you to call me a liar?" Adam replied upset.

"We're John Winchester's sons, that's who." Dean called out as he pointed between Sam and himself, at which Sam sighed. "_We_ are his sons!"

Adam fell silent as he looked at both of them in shock. "I've got brothers?" He asked.

"No, you don't have brothers." Dean snapped at him. "Look, man, I don't know if you're a hunter or what kind of game you're playing here."

"I have never been hunting in my life." Adam replied somewhat confused.

"Whatever. I'm out of here. Come on, Sam." Dean replied as he stood up and prepares to leave.

"I can prove it." Adam called out.

Dean stopped and turned to look at his supposed half-brother. He then looked at Sam, who merely shrugged, as if he wanted to say there was no harm in finding out. Dean sighed and considered his options. Part of him just wanted to shoot the kid.

Xxx

About half an hour later, Dean and Sam followed Adam into his house. Adam had driven his pick-up, while they had followed him in the Impala. During the ride, Dean had argued with Sam, as he did not believe it for a second, while Sam seemed to start to believe it. Adam led them upstairs to a bunch of picture frames. He grabbed one and handed it to Dean, who looked at the picture and saw his father with a younger Adam wearing a baseball cap.

"He took you to a baseball game?" Dean asked annoyed, their father had never done anything like that with them, as it all revolved around the hunt.

"Yeah, when I turned fourteen. Dad was around for a few of my birthdays." Adam explained.

Meanwhile Sam opened the old journal and flipped through it to the date. "September twenty-ninth, two thousand four. One word. Minnesota." Sam said as he held up the journal.

"He took you to a freakin' baseball game?" Dean asked in utter disbelief.

"Yeah. Why? What did Dad do with you on your birthday?" Adam asked as he took the picture frame from Dean's hands and placed it back on the table.

"Oh..." Dean replied with a frown, really not wanting to answer.

"Adam, you said you called Dad because your mom was missing." Sam said, changing the subject. "How long has she been gone?"

"Three days." Adam replied.

"Who was the last person to see her?" Dean asked.

"The neighbor. He saw her come home Tuesday night, but she never showed up to work on Wednesday."

Meanwhile, Dean picked up another picture and saw a younger Kate, who seemed to resemble their mother Mary in appearance. He guessed his father had a type.

"Did you call the police?" Sam asked.

"Mom's supervisor at the hospital did. And then I drove down here as fast as I could. I was at college." Adam explained and paused for a moment. "I should have been here." He added feeling guilty.

"What'd the cops say?" Dean asked.

"They searched the house. They didn't find anything." Adam replied. "She wouldn't leave without telling anybody. It's like she just dropped off the face of the earth, you know?"

Dean and Sam exchanged looks and realized they had to take this case. If the kid's mother was still alive somehow, perhaps she could tell them more about their dad and how they met. Meanwhile, Dean realized it was getting heard to deny the fact that this kid could in fact be their little half-brother. He resented it, but the kid was innocent and needed their help.

xxx

A few moments later, the brothers had split up. While San went to do some research on the computer and with the cops, Dean searched the house four any clues. He searched the bedroom and found himself looking at more pictures of Kate and Adam, and some with John. The happy little family. Dean grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah, Singer." Grumpy voice sounded.

"Bobby, it's Dean." Dean said. "Listen up. I need to ask you something and I need a clear answer. It's about my dad."

"What's going on?" Bobby asked.

"Did dad ever talk to you about Minnesota?" Dean asked as he started exploring the rest of the room.

"Minnesota?" Bobby asked confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Bobby, be straight with me here." Dean replied.

"Look here, boy. I've always been straight with you." Bobby replied angrily. "I don't know what your daddy did in Minnesota, but he didn't share his life stories with me."

"Alright, I just needed to know." Dean replied. "Thanks, Bobby."

"Hold on, what the hell is going on?" Bobby asked.

"I'll tell you later." Dean said as he noticed Adam entering the bedroom. "I'll talk to you later."

"Found anything?" Adam asked as Dean put away the phone.

"The nightstand was knocked over. Was there anything else?" Dean replied.

"Oh, not really. The sheriff said there's no sign of a break-in." Adam said as Dean looked around. "What, you think the cops missed something?"

"Maybe. Yeah." Dean replied. "They don't have my eyes."

"But you're a mechanic." Adam remarked skeptically.

"Yeah. That's right." Dean said.

Adam seemed to hesitate for a moment and looked at the floor. "Dean, what else can you tell me about Dad?" He asked after a while.

"You knew him." Dean replied, not interested in sharing stories.

"Not as well as you." Adam replied.

"Trust me, kid, you don't want to know." Dean replied.

At that moment, Sam appeared in the door and waved at Dean holding a few folders. Dean told the kid to hang back while he had Sam headed into the hallway.

"You talk to the cops?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Like Adam said, no leads on his mom." Sam replied.

"Shocker there." Dean remarked.

"But I did find this." Sam said as he held up the folders. He opened them and flipped through them. "Uh... here. In nineteen ninety, there were seventeen grave robberies in Windom."

"You think that's why Dad came through here?" Dean asked.

"I'd say so. Check it out." Sam replied as he held up a photo in a newspaper clipping. Dean looked at his and saw is father standing in a crowd of bystanders at a crime scene.

"All right, so he was hunting something. What?" Dean said.

"No idea." Sam replied. "Those were the pages he threw out of the journal. But last month, the corpse snatching started up again. Three bodies from the local cemetery."

"So whatever he was after, he didn't kill it. It's back." Dean concluded.

"And, what, it's stepped up its game to fresh meat? I mean, Kate's missing, and…" Sam said as he opened another folder. "So is a local bartender, a guy named Joe Barton."

Dean grabbed a photo from the folder and headed back into the bedroom, where Adam had sat down on the bed. Dean walked over and held up the photo.

"Hey, does your mom know Joe Barton?" Dean asked.

"Uh, I don't think so." Adam said as he looked at the photo. "Why?"

Dean and Sam exchanged looks and a silence fell. Dean looked down and suddenly noticed something by Adam's feet, scratch marks on the floor. Dean walked over to take a closer look and kneeled down.

"What is it?" Adam asked as he stood up.

"Watch out." Dean said as he flipped the edge of the comforter and looked under the bed. "Help me with the mattress."

Dean tossed aside the pillows and together with Adam, he removed the mattress from the bed frame. Under the bed, there was a vent large enough to fit someone through. Sam and Dean exchange looks and held up their hands, preparing the old ritual to determine who would get to go inside the creepy vent. A little game called rock-paper-scissors. Both reveal their hand and Sam has rock, while Dean picked scissors.

"Every time." Dean called out annoyed.

A few moments later, Dean lowered himself in the air vent and started crawling through the narrow space with a flashlight in his hand. He noticed several blood stains.

"Why didn't I pick paper?" Dean remarked.

Dean approached a T-junction. He carefully peeked around the corners and noticed one path was clear, while the other was filled with more blood. He sighed and followed the blood. With a pistol in one hand and the flashlight in the other, he carefully checked ahead before crawling further. As he turned the corner, he noticed a large pool of blood, as well as a few pieces of flesh and some bones. Dean sighed and he realized that no person could survive that, which meant that Adam had just lost his mother.

Xxx


	2. Chapter 2

Supernatural – 4.19 Jump the Shark

Part 2

Xxx

A few hours later, Dean and Sam were in their motel room. After finding the remains of Adam's mother. They had left and instructed Adam to call the police, telling him he should call them about a smell coming from the vents. Naturally Adam was distraught, but he agreed. Dean had to hand it to the kind, he was taking it quite well. As Dean cleaned his shotgun, Sam came out of the bathroom just as there was a knock on the door. Sam walked over and opened the door, after which Adam stormed in. Dean quickly threw a cloth over the shotgun and stood up.

"Who the hell are you?" Adam called out angrily.

"Adam, hey, take it easy." Sam said as he raised his arms.

"No, don't tell me to take it easy, okay?" Adam snapped at him. "My house is a crime scene, my mom's probably dead, and you two… Well, you tell me to call the cops, but you got to bail before they show? So, who are you really?"

There fell an awkward silence, so Adam continued his rampage. "Cops didn't know where to look for my mom, Dean, but you did. And I heard you talking earlier… something about grave robberies." He walked across the room and noticed the shotgun. "You're not mechanics. I just want to know what's going on. Please." He added desperately.

"We're hunters." Sam said.

"Sammy!" Dan called out, the kid did not need to her the truth. Once you knew, you could never go back.

"He deserves to know, Dean." Sam replied determined, after which Dean shook his head.

"What do you mean, hunters?" Ada asked confused.

Sam told Adam to sit down and Dean sighed, knowing this was not going to end well. As Adam sat down next to Dean, Sam started telling him everything, well at least the most important stuff. Luckily, he decided to leave out the complicated war between Heaven and Hell. He told Adam the cliff notes version of what they and their father did. When Sam finished, Adam stared at them both with a doubtful expression. It took a while before he broke the silence.

"Okay, so... basically, you're saying that every movie monster, every nightmare that I've ever had, that's all real?" Adam asked eventually.

"_Godzilla'_s just a movie." Dean remarked.

"We hunt them. So did Dad." Sam said once more.

"Okay." Adam simply said.

"Okay? That's it?" Dean asked surprised.

"What am I supposed to say?" Adam asked with a shrug.

"That we're liars, that we're crazy. Nobody just says okay." Dean called out frustrated as he stood up.

"Well, you're my brothers. You're telling me the truth, right?" Adam said.

Dean fell silent for a moment. He did not expect a response like that. When he looked at the kid, he saw a random stranger, not a brother. So why did the kid trust them so easily? How could he accept the fact he had monster-hunting brothers so easily?

"Yeah." Dean remarked eventually.

"Then I believe you." Adam simply said. "Now, what took my mom?"

"We're not sure. Something's in town stealing bodies, living and dead, but we don't know what." Sam explained.

"There's a long list of freaks that fit the bill." Dean added.

"You think maybe she might still be alive?" Adam asked hopefully.

Dean and Sam exchanged looked, both knew that his mother was dead, there was no doubt. Adam looked at both of them and caught on quickly. He lowered his head as the truth sunk in.

"Oh." He said. "How can I help?"

"You can't." Dean replied instantly.

"This thing killed my mom. If you're hunting it, I want in." Adam replied defiantly.

"No." Dean said strictly.

"Dean, look, maybe…" Sam started.

"Maybe what?" Dean called out.

"He lost his mother. Maybe we can understand what that feels like." Sam said suggestively.

"Why do you think Dad never told us about this kid, Sam? Huh? Why do you think he ripped out the pages?" Dean called out. "Because he was protecting him!"

"Dad's dead, Dean." Sam replied.

"That doesn't matter! He didn't want Adam to have our lives, okay? And we are gonna respect his wishes." Dean said determined.

"Do I get a say in this?" Adam asked.

"No." Dean and Sam replied at the same time.

"Babysit the kid." Dean said as he headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"Out!" Dean replied as he grabbed his coat and slammed the door shut and Sam sighed.

"Is he always like that?" Adam asked.

"Welcome to the family." Sam replied with a laugh. He walked over to Adam and pulled his gun from his jeans. "Here." He said as he ejected the clip and held it out. "Let me teach you a few things."

"But Dean said…" Adam started

"I know what Dean said." Sam replied as he held the gun in front of Adam. "And I know what it's like to want revenge."

Adam looked at him doubtfully and then nodded as he grabbed the gun. Sam knew where Dean was coming from, but he also knew the kid needed to be able to defend himself. Dean did not have all the answers.

Xxx

Across town, Dean walked in front of a tomb with the director of the graveyard, an elderly man in a suit. He was dressed in a suit and posing as an FBI agent. He had his doubts about leaving the kid with Sam considering everything, but they needed some answers. The direction opened the door and they stepped inside the tomb.

"This tomb was built in 1926. Four generations of the Millsap family were interred here." The director explained.

"They don't build 'em like this anymore." Dean said, faking interest.

"Tell me, Agent Nugent, have you thought about where you might like to spend eternity?"

"All the damn time." Dean replied after some hesitation. "So, three bodies went missing. Any idea who did it?"

"Hooligans. Sick, deranged hooligans." The director remarked angrily.

As Dean looked around the tomb, he noticed something spilled on the side of the tomb. He walked over and touched it, it was a thick liquid with a nasty smell.

"This isn't blood. What is this?" Dean asked.

"No, it's embalming fluid." The director said as he took a look. Whoever committed this crime didn't just take the corpses. They opened them up."

Dean quickly wrapped things up with the director and left the cemetery, since he had another lead to follow up on. About an hour later, as it started to become night, Dean took a seat at an empty bar and looked at the papers he was carrying. The female bartender noticed him and came up with a filled glass of beer from the tab.

"First beer's on the house for cops. Feds too." The bartender said.

"Am I that obvious?" Dean asked.

"I know all the local badges." The bartender replied as he sat down the beer. "And you've got that... _Law & Order_ vibe. So, what's the FBI doing in Windom?"

"Looking into the disappearance of Joe Barton." Dean said as he slid a picture across the bar and took a sip of his beer. The bartender seemed to recognize Joe. "I assume you knew him?"

"A little. I'm his wife. Lisa." The bartender said.

"Well, Lisa, what can you tell me about his disappearance?" Dean asked.

"Same thing I told the sheriff." Lisa replied. "He stayed late Friday before last to do inventory. Never came home."

"And the police?" Dean asked.

"Nothing." Lisa replied with a shrug. "Truth is, I was scared they stopped looking. But now you're here."

Dean looked up at some pictures above the bar and noticed one of Joe in a police uniform. "Joe was a cop?" He asked surprised.

"Deputy. For a little while." Lisa replied as she looked at the picture. "That was a long time ago."

"He didn't happen to work the grave robbery case, back in 'ninety?" Dean asked, going on a hunch.

"He did." Lisa said after thinking for a while. "Yeah. Joe was the one who found those bodies. He got an award for that."

"That was an interesting case." Dean said. "He ever tell you how he did it?"

"Most of the time, he said good, solid police work." Lisa said. "But after a few beers, he'd admit he had a little help."

"From who?" Dean asked, already suspecting the answer.

"A specialist. That's all he'd say." Lisa replied.

"Did the cops ever find the guy that stole the bodies?" Dean asked as he took another drink.

"No." Lisa replied determined. "But when I asked Joe about it, he'd say not to worry… that they took care of what done it."

Dean nodded as he finished his drink. He thanked Lisa for her help and left the bar. He now knew for certain that his father had helped that cop years ago, which meant he also started to see a pattern, which meant he had go get back to the motel quickly.

Xxx

Back at the motel room, Sam was finishing cleaning a shotgun and looked over to Adam, who was practicing disassembling a gun. For a kid who had never held a gun before, he was picking it up fast. Sam figured it must be in the Winchester blood somehow. After a while, Adam stopped and stared a Sam, as if he wanted to ask something but was afraid to.

"Sam...How did Dad really die?" Adam asked.

"Demon." Sam replied.

"You hunted it down? Got revenge?" Adam asked.

"Dean killed it." Sam said.

"So it's over for you." Adam said.

"It's never over." Sam replied reluctantly.

Suddenly, the lights went out and something rattled around them. Sam instinctively stood up and raised his gun before he even realized.

"What the…?" Adam remarked.

Sam shushed him and loaded the shotgun before carefully walking to the door. "Stay there." He said to Adam when he followed. Sam walked to the door and swung it open, aiming his shotgun as he looked around. Another rattling sound surrounded them and Sam suddenly noticed a large vent near the ceiling, similar to the one inside Adam's house before.

"It's in the vents." Sam called out as he aimed his gun at the vent. "Go!"

Sam fired his gun at the vent and grabbed Adam, pushing him out of the room. Sam grabbed Adam by the shoulder and guided him down the stairs onto the parking lot.

"Where's your car?!" Sam called out.

"Over there!" Adam yelled, pointing at a rusty old pick-up.

"Alright, the keys!" Sam replied.

"Here." Adam yelled as he threw his keys and ran over to the passenger's side.

Sam caught the keys and fumbled with them as he tried to find the right one. Suddenly, something grabbed his ankle and he was yanked to the ground. He screamed as something tried to pull him under the truck and he grabbed on to resist.

"Sam!" Adam called out in a panic as he circled the truck. At the same time, the Impala drove up to the parking lot and Dean got out. "Dean, help!"

Adam grabbed Sam's arm and started pulling while Dean got out of the car. He grabbed Sam's other arm and pulled, but the monster was too strong. Dean looked around and saw the shotgun on the ground. He let go of Sam and grabbed the gun. He aimed under the truck and fired. A scream sounded as the thing let go of Sam. Sam crawled out from under the truck and looked at Dean and Adam. Whatever it was, it was after him.

Xxx

A few moments later, Adam backed up his truck and revealed an open sewer grate underneath it. Dean walked over to the grate with the shotgun aimed and crouched down when he saw the thing had disappeared. He noticed blood on the grate and turned to Sam, who was leaning against the Impala since his ankle had been hurt.

"I winged it." Dean said. "Did you see anything?"

"I didn't get a good look." Sam replied.

"What the hell is this thing?" Dean said annoyed.

"Should we go after it?" Adam asked as doubtfully he got out of the car.

"No, in that maze? That thing's long gone." Dean replied.

"Alright, so, we don't know what it is, but we do know who it's going after. Joe Barton, Adam's mom." Sam listed.

"And Adam." Dan concluded. "It was under his truck, just waiting for him."

"It set a trap, and I walked right into it." Sam replied embarrassed.

"Doesn't matter." Dean replied. "You're right, there's a pattern. Joe Barton was a cop. I'm pretty sure he helped out dad. So we've got him, dad's girl, and his son." He added as he looked at Adam.

"All the people dad knew in town." Sam confirmed.

"At least we know why it's back." Dean said.

"It wants revenge." Adam remarked.

Both Dean and Sam looked at Adam, who stared at the ground. They felt some sympathy for the kid, as his entire life had been turned upside down, yet neither of them knew what to say.

xxx

About half an hour later, the brothers returned to the Milligan residence. Adam opened the door and Dean and Sam followed him in. Dean held on to his gun and looked outside through the window while Sam checked the back.

"Grab your stuff. We'll hit the road." Dean said.

Adam nodded and turned on the lights before heading upstairs. Dean and Sam entered the kitchen and Sam sat down on a chair, flipping his hurt ankle on another chair. Dean grabbed a first aid kit from a cupboard and threw it on the table.

"We shouldn't leave." Sam said as he checked his ankle.

"Yeah, let's stay here, where the kid's mom got ganked. Good one." Dean remarked skeptically.

"I'm serious." Sam replied as he opened the kit.

"No, Sam." Dean said. "We're gonna take the kid, we're gonna drop him off at Bobby's, and then you and me are gonna come back here and finish what dad started."

"How? We got no leads, no witnesses. We do have what this thing wants." Sam said as he wrapped a bandage around his ankle.

"You want to use the kid as bait?" Dean asked angrily. "That's why you want to stay here?"

"Maybe this thing will come back. We could train Adam, get him ready." Sam suggested.

"He could die, Sam." Dean called out, shocked that his brother would even suggest it. The kid was an innocent, he had no place getting involved in things that did not concern him.

"We could all die, Dean." Sam replied. "Even if we do kill this thing, there are tons of other freaks that want revenge, on dad, on us. What if they find the kid instead and he's not ready?"

As Sam finished wrapping the bandage, the brothers heard a bag drop to the floor and turned around to find Adam standing in the door opening.

"I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I'll do it. I want to do it." Adam said greedily.

The following morning, Dean and Sam took Adam out of the city and to a deserted field. As Dean reluctantly grabbed the guns, Sam spray-painted three targets on a "no trespassing" sign with Adam. After they finished getting ready, Sam aimed the gun and shot the first target from a distance.

"Whoa." Adam called out impressed.

"It's easy." Sam replied. "Just feel the recoil and time the trigger pulls. Three taps."

Sam held out the gun to Adam and he took it. Leaning against the Impala, Dean looked on with reluctance and shook his head as he looked the other way. He did not agree with this plan. Meanwhile Adam aimed the gun and fired three shots. All three managed to hit the sign, though only one managed to barely hit the mark. Adam seemed content and Sam smiled. Dean looked on annoyed and got back in the car.

A few hours later, all of them were back at the Milligan residence. Sam and Adam are flipping through several books of the supernatural, while Dean remained back and leaned against the door with a beer while looking outside.

"So, then we lit it on fire." Sam said, finished his story about a past hunt.

"With a homemade flamethrower?" Adam asked, impressed like a little kid.

"Yeah. They're easy to build. I'll show you." Sam replied and smiled, wondering if this was what it felt like to be a big brother.

"That is some job you got, man." Adam said.

Sam's mood shifted and he looked at Adam. "Being a hunter isn't a job, Adam. It's life. You're pre-med. You got a girlfriend, friends?" Sam asked in a serious tone, at which Adam nodded.

"Well, not anymore you don't." Sam continued. "If you're really gonna do this, you can't have those kinds of connections, ever. They're weaknesses. You'll just put those people in danger, get them killed." Sam looked at Dean and noticed him looking away. "That's the price we pay. You cut 'em out, and you don't look back. There's only one thing you can count on. Family." Sam continued.

"Sam." Dean called out. "Can I talk to you?"

Dean walked past Adam and headed into the hallway. He stopped by the stairs and waited for Sam to join him.

"What the hell was that?" Dean asked angrily.

"What?" Sam asked with a shrug.

"Hunting is life. You can't have connections." Dean quoted him. "Dad gave you that exact same speech, remember? It was just before you ditched us for Stanford. You hated dad for saying that stuff, and now you're quoting him?"

"Yeah, well, turns out dad was right." Sam replied reluctantly.

"Since when?' Dean called out, not believing what he heard.

"Since always." Sam replied. "Dean, when I look at Adam, you know what I see?"

"A normal kid." Dean replied.

"No. Meat." Sam replied coldly. "Because the demons and monsters out there, that's all he is. I hated dad for a long time. I did. But now I think I understand. So we didn't have a dog and a white picket fence. So what? Dad did right by us. He taught us how to protect ourselves. Adam deserves the same."

"Listen to yourself, man." Dean said appalled.

"You think I'm wrong?" Sam asked.

"I think it's too late for us." Dean said after a sigh. "This is our life. This is who we are, okay? And it's fine. I accept that. But with Adam, he's still got a chance, man. He can go to school. He could be a doctor."

"What makes Adam so special?" Sam called out.

Dean paused and looked at his brother. He did not believe what he was hearing. "What, are you jealous of the kid?" He asked with a frown.

"Are you?" Sam simply replied. "Dean, all this... it's not real. The dad Adam knew, he wasn't real. The things out there in the shadows, they are real. The world is coming to an end. That's real. Everything else is just part of the crap people tell themselves to get through the day."

"Dad didn't have a choice with us, okay? But with Adam, he did. Adam doesn't have to be cursed." Dean said after a moment.

"He's a Winchester. He's already cursed." Sam replied coldly.

"No!" Dean said angrily. "No, whatever's hunting Adam, I'm gonna find it."

"You already looked everywhere, Dean." Sam replied.

"Well, then I'll look again." Dean called out as he stormed out the door.

A few moments later, Dean drove the Impala down a dark road and parked in front of the cemetery. He grabbed his gear from the back, as well as a large metal cutter to cut open the large chain around the fence. As the fence swung open, Dean grabbed his gear and headed toward the tomb.

Xxx


	3. Chapter 3

Supernatural – 4.19 Jump the Shark

Part 3

Xxx

Once inside the tomb, Dean clicked on a flashlight and looked around again to find something. There had to be something he missed the first time around. Suddenly he noticed a loose stone in the back and grabbed a crowbar from his bag. With a few pushes, he managed to move the stone, revealing a tunnel behind it just large enough to fit through.

"Home sweet home." Dean remarked as he saw light at the end of the tunnel.

Dean grabbed his gun and and headed into the tunnel. After a few feet, he suddenly felt something wet and noticed a large pool of blood, a severed arm and a pair of black glasses which he recognized from the photo of Joe Barton in the bar.

"Sloppy Joe." Dean remarked.

Suddenly something moved in the tunnel and Dean fired his gun several times. However, his shots only caused the tunnel to collapse behind him, trapping him inside.

"Oh, son of a bitch!" Dean called out as he grabbed his cellphone, but there was no signal. "Son of a bitch." He repeated annoyed.

Dean put his phone away and looked down in the tunnel, realizing there was only one way out from the tunnel now. With his gun raised, he proceeded deeper into the darkness.

xxx

Back at the Milligan residence, Sam and Adam were making preparations to protect themselves. As Sam was pouring salt along all windows and doors, Adam was boarding up every vent in the house to prevent whatever was after him from coming in. They set up their final stance in the bedroom of Kate, where the only entrance remains the vent under the bed.

"All right. We've closed off every other way into the house." Sam said as he stood above the vent. "If this thing's coming, it's coming through here."

Suddenly, a creak sounded from downstairs, like a door opening.

"You were saying?" Adam remarked with a frown.

Out of nowhere, screams sounded from downstairs and a woman's voice started screaming Adam's name.

"Mom?" Adam asked shocked as he looked to the door. Sam realized it was a trap and tried to stop Adam, but before he could grab him, Adam ran out the bedroom. "Mom!"

"Adam! Stop!" Sam yelled as he chambered his shotgun and ran after him.

Sam ran down the stairs and found Adam standing at the bottom. In the kitchen, Kate Milligan stood covered in dirt and a few scratches. It was impossible, Sam realized, it could not be her. However, Adam was too relieved to see his mother that he could not think clearly. He ran toward her and they embraced.

"Mom." Adam said relieved.

"It took me, but I got away." Kate said in tears.

"It's okay." Adam replied.

As the supposed mother and son hugged, Sam aimed his shotgun and walked into the kitchen. "Adam, step away from her." He warned his half-brother.

"Sam, what the hell?!" Adam called out as he clutched his fake mother defensively.

"She's not your mother!" Sam warned him.

"Adam, who… what is going on?" Kate asked in shock.

A conflicted Adam stood between his mother and Sam, unsure what was going on as well and unsure who he should believe.

Xxx

Back in the tomb, Dean had discovered an exit and was kicking against the old door to get it open. It would not budge, as it probably had not been opened in decades. He looked around and noted that he was in the deepest and oldest part of the tomb. He decided to explore further and noticed a trail of blood leading to a coffin. He cracked it open and found the body of Kate Milligan inside, at least what was left of her. He looked on and noticed the rest of Joe Barton lying near a pile of bones.

Dean realized he needed to get out of there and slammed the coffin shut. Suddenly, he noticed an old glass-and-lead window above the door depicting an angel.

Xxx

In the kitchen of the Milligan residence, Sam moved across the kitchen aiming his shotgun at the fake Kate Milligan, who positioned herself behind a conflicted Adam, who was clueless about what was happening and did not know who to believe.

"Get away from him!" Sam warned her.

"What is going on?" Kate asked tearfully.

"No Sam, wait, it's really her, okay?" Adam said as he raised his hands to calm them down.

"There was too much blood, Adam." Sam replied. "Your mother's dead. There was too much blood in the vents!"

Suddenly Sam leaped forward and pushed Adam away from the monster. He dropped the shotgun, which Adam picked up and held up shaking as he was unsure who to aim at.

"Adam!" His mother pleaded.

"Shoot it!" Sam yelled.

"He's crazy! Honey, it's me!" Kate said desperately as she stepped forward.

A confused Adam held up the shotgun and aimed it at his mother, who froze. He then aimed it at Sam and the conflict was clear in his eyes. He was overwhelmed and terrified.

"Honey, it's me!" Kate repeated.

"Look, that's not your mother!" Sam called out.

"Baby, please! Don't do this." His mother said. "This is not you, you would never hurt me."

"Shoot it! It's not human!" Sam called out.

With the shotgun raised between the two of them, Adam backed up as his mind filled with doubts. He moved along the wall until he reached the door to the hallway. Suddenly, a man who Sam instantly recognized as Joe Barton appeared and knocked Adam over the head. He fell down and dropped the shotgun. Sam tried to reach for it, but before he could, Kate appeared before him and tossed him across the room, knocking him out.

xxx

In the tomb, Dean finished stacking up several coffins as he tried to reach the window. He then broke off a metal bar from one of the coffins and used it to smash the window. He leaped up and managed to crawl out. He knew he had to hurry, as his brothers were in danger, and he realized how weird it felt to think about brothers in plural.

Xxx

Back at the Milligan house, Sam awoke to find himself lying on the kitchen table with his hands and feet bound to the table legs. He looked to his side and saw Adam tied to a chair with his head hanging down, still unconscious. Suddenly Sam heard humming and turned around, the fake Kate was sitting on another chair while cleaning her nails with a knife.

"Silver." Sam noted. "No wonder none of the tests worked. You're not shapeshifters. You're ghouls."

"You know, I find that term racist." Kate remarked as she swung the knife at him.

Kate got up and started to circle the table. She brought her face close to Sam and sniffed him. "Mmm, fresh meat. So much better than what we're used to." Kate said as she nibbled on his ear.

"I should have known." Sam said frustrated at himself. "It was the fresh kills that threw me. Ghouls don't usually go after the living. See, you're just filthy scavengers, feeding off the dead… taking the form of the last corpse you choke down."

At that moment, the other ghoul, appearing as the former cop Joe Barton, came back into the kitchen wielding another blade. Meanwhile, Sam heard Adam moan and he knew he was close to waking up.

"And their thoughts. And their memories." Joe said.

"Well, we are what we eat." Kate remarked as she played with her knife.

"You're monsters." Sam remarked.

Kate's face grimaced and she slashed his arm with her knife, drawing blood. Sam groaned and tried to ignore the pain. Adam woke up and looked around in shock. He looked up at his fake mother just as he ran her finger through Sam's blood and licked it.

"Sam, what is going on?" Adam asked scared. "Mom, what are you doing?!"

"Wake up, kid, she's not your mother." Joe remarked.

"Oh god, Sam, I am sorry." Adam said as he realized his mistake.

"It's alright, Adam." Sam replied.

Meanwhile Kate pressed her finger on the cut in his arm and tasted his blood once more. "It tastes different." She said as she looked at the other ghoul and Sam realized she tasted the demon blood.

"What are you doing?" Adam called out. "Leave him alone, you monsters."

The ghoul Joe hit Adam across the face and he cried out in pain. "You Winchesters are all the same, throwing the word monster around. Your daddy killed our father because he believed he was a monster. Why? Because of what he ate? He never hurt anyone, not living at least."

"No. He was no monster." Kate added as she plunged the knife in Sam's arm again, causing him to groan in pain. "But the thing that killed him was. A monster named John Winchester."

Joe walked over to the table and dug a finger in Sam's open wound to taste his blood, while Kate licked the blood off her knife. Both smiled at each other and continued to feed off his blood one finger at a time.

"Thanks to your daddy, my brother and I grew up on our own. At least we had each other." Kate said as she looked at the other ghoul. "And for twenty years, we lived like rats."

"Graveyard after graveyard, all that stinking flesh." Joe remarked with a foul face.

"Then we thought, hey, why not move up to fresher game?" Kate said.

"And we knew just where to start." Joe added as he turned around and walked over to Adam, who looked on in terror. "We knew we wanted revenge for our father."

"At first, we didn't know where to look." Kate explained. "We followed the only lead we had, the cop that helped John. Then we found out about his little slut, and his kid."

"We figured we'd kill the mother, and have John's little boy here call his daddy." Joe explained as he circled around Adam while wielding the blade.

"But then it turned out the son of a bitch was already dead." Kate added. "So we knew we'd just had to settle for killing his sons, all three of them."

"Dean won't interrupt us this time." Joe whispered to Adam as he looked the terrified boy in the eyes. "We're gonna feed on you nice and slow… like we did with your mother. You know, she was still alive when we took out first bites, and she was a screamer."

"You son a bitch!" Sam yelled.

Joe laughed as Adam tried to look away and suppress his tears of fear and pain. He grabbed Adam by the head and let his blade slide across his neck. Adam cried out in pain as he started bleeding heavily. Joe greedily threw himself on the open wound, drinking directly from the vein. Sam struggled and tried to break free to help his brother, but Kate pressed him down and let her teeth sink into the open wound on his arm.

"Sam, the more you struggle, the faster you're gonna bleed out." Kate said as she looked up and licked her lips. "So you might as well lie back and relax."

Suddenly, the back door flew open and Dean charged in. "Hey!" Dean called out and a surprised Joe looked up. Dean fired and hit him in the shoulder, causing Joe to fall back against the wall. At the same time, a shocked Kate backed away and raised her knife.

"Dean, they're ghouls!" Sam called out.

Dean paused for a moment, then fired his shotgun and Kate's head. Her head exploded and blood spattered across the room, including on the face of a mortified Adam, who watched his mother's headless corpse falling on the ground.

"Which means head-shot." Dean remarked.

Dean tried to reload his gun, but before he could, Joe leaped at him and they crashed into the fridge, causing Dean to lose his gun. Joe screamed as he started hitting Dean in a rage. Dean managed to grab his metal bar from the tomb and bashed his head in. He hit several times until the body stopped twitching. Then silence fell.

"Dean!" Sam called out.

Dean got up and grabbed the knife in an attempt to cut open the ropes. "No, get Adam first." Sam replied weakly. Dean looked up and noticed Adam in the chair. The wound in his neck was still bleeding heavily and he looked pale, like he was about to lose consciousness. Dean grabbed a towel as he ran over.

"Adam, Adam, can you hear me?!" Dean called out as he pressed the towel against the wound and cut his hands free.

"Dean?" Adam asked weakly.

"Yeah, it's me, hold on, kid." Dean replied worried. He took his brother's hand and raised it to his wound. "Keep the pressure on, alright?"

Dean got up and walked over to the table. He quickly cut Sam free and ripped apart the table cloth to help him stop the bleeding. However, aside from some pain, he seemed alright.

"How is Adam?" Sam asked.

"I think he'll be alright." Dean replied.

"After what he has just been through?" Sam asked as both of them looked at him. "I doubt it."

"We'll help him get through." Dean replied. That's what family is for, right?"

Dean walked back to Adam and kneeled down next to his half-brother, who smiled at him faintly. Dean smiled back, though he realized the kid's life would never be the same again. His life as he knew it was over. He was like them now, everything their dad had tried to prevent. Out of the three of them, he had wanted Adam to have a normal life.

Xxx

The following morning, the Impala drove up to Singer's Salvage Yard. After spending the night in the motel, it had been a long and silent drive over. Dean looked in his rearview mirror and saw Adam in the back seat staring out the window in a daze. He had barely spoken more than a few words since what happened in his kitchen, even after his wounds had been bandaged. Dean wondered if he had slept at all. He looked at Sam and noticed his brother shared his concern.

The boys got out of the Impala as Bobby left his house and met them in front of the car.

"So that's the kid?" Bobby asked as he looked inside the Impala. "Is he going to be alright?"

"I don't know, Bobby." Dean replied.

"So why bring him here?" Bobby asked.

"We need to make sure the demons don't find him, Bobby." Sam said. "Being related to us is a huge risk. If they find out, they will try to use him against us."

"He need to stay here for a while." Dean added. "He needs to sell the house, start somewhere fresh, and he needs to know how to keep himself safe."

"Well, he's your brother." Bobby replied. "Can't you teach him?"

"He will never be safe with us, Bobby." Sam said. "Not with everything that is going on."

"Alright, of course the kid is welcome here." Bobby replied with a sigh. He clearly was not excited about the idea, but they knew he would do it because he cared.

"Thanks, Bobby." Dean said. He walked over to the Impala and knocked on the roof. "Adam, come on."

Adam got out of the car with only a backpack and Dean took him over to meet Bobby and they shook hands. "Adam, this is Bobby, you'll be staying with him for a while."

"Wait, can't I go with you?" Adam asked. "You're the only family I've got."

"Bobby is like family to us." Sam said. "He'll look after you."

"Alright." Adam said reluctantly.

Dean and Adam said goodbye to Bobby and Adam and got back into the Impala. As they drove away, they noticed Adam looking back before heading inside. As they drove, the brothers remained silent for a while. Eventually it was Sam who broke the silence.

"We did what we had to." Sam said. "Leaving him behind would have put him at risk."

"He'll always be at risk." Dean replied. "Guess that is the curse of being a Winchester. Dad never wanted this for him."

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it? What if?" Sam said after some hesitation, thinking about their own childhood spent with their father.

"Yeah." Dean replied as he stared into the distance.

xxx

The End


End file.
